Despite new flexible working rights legislation fewer people are working from home than in 2000, according to government research.
The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has said the traditional nine-to-five culture is in decline but its annual survey of workers and employer's attitude to flexible working suggests staff are not taking it up.

The survey of more than 1,400 workplaces found fewer people now work from home than in 2000 and that there has been little change in the number of people applying for job-sharing and flexi-time in the last four years.

But the government insists that 92% of employers questioned would now consider a flexible working request from their staff. The survey found that just under one in 10 requests had been turned down.

Employment relations minister, Pat McFadden, said: "More people want to balance work with family and lifestyle and more employers are increasingly recognising that flexibility helps retain good staff." The government has given workers the right to request flexible hours to parents with children under six and to carers with disabled children and adults. Gordon Brown wants to extend this right to parents with teenage children.